Comments | the_nautilus: Dive Training Day Three: On Fears of Drowning...and Getting over It

dawn_felagund in the_nautilus

Dive Training Day Three: On Fears of Drowning...and Getting over It

Sep 26, 2006 19:30

Last week was our first session underwater, and I discovered that--like it or not--my status as a human makes scuba-diving challenging. Our bodies are not built for prolonged stays underwater; as I told Bobby, if we were meant to stay for long periods underwater at depth, we would not get the bends. As such, our psychology is not built for long ( Read more... )

diving, dive training, dawn

Comments 6

anonymous May 4 2008, 03:05:21 UTC

I am signing up for my diving course on Monday and my greatest concern at the moment is removing my mask underwater..exactly what you have described above! Its very comforting to read what you have said and I think i'll be heading off to the pool tomorrow to try out the same techniques you have tried as well. I did a trial in a friends pool recently to see if I'd like suba diving and the only problem I had was removing my mask and taking a nose full of water, I panicked each time and shot to the surface each time and didn't want to ever have to try it again!! I know I'll have to do it in my course and I really want to pass but I'm pretty stressed out about the whole mask thing at the moment. I've sat here googling this exact topic for the past hour and your post is the best thing i've read so far! I hope it all worked out for you and you passed your course with flying colours..as I will hopefully be doing as well :) thanks!!!!

dawn_felagund May 4 2008, 12:58:54 UTC

Hi, there! I'm so glad that the post was helpful for you! My best advice, aside from the breathing stuff that worked for me, at least, is to just relax. If you've ever heard of progressive muscle relaxation, that worked for me in micro form. :) With each exhale, I imagined the tension draining from my body from head to toe. If you're tense, your body's primed to panic. If you're relaxed, you're much more likely to take that split second to think through any problems that you have and solve them rather than simply shooting to the surface. And it makes you breathe slower and not hyperventilate ( ... )

Thanks for that! anonymous May 19 2008, 00:14:22 UTC

Hi, so I know that you did this a looooong time ago, but I was searching for tips on breathing from free-flowing regulators today, and found your page.
You see, I too am learning to scuba dive, and it was really sweet to hear your perspective, mostly because in class today, we did the EXACT same things. I personally got hung up on the free-flowing regulator exercise, and, I am sorry to say, cheated. I had to take two breaths, I honestly felt like I was drowning.
Anyway, I hope that you did get your certification in the end. I guess there's always something that each person has trouble with, and it is frustrating to know that it's ridiculous to panic but it's happening anyway. I'm glad other people can relate!

I have a problem,can you help me? anonymous June 16 2008, 21:02:34 UTC

Mam, I really don't don't who to turn to with this problem so hopefully maybe you might be able to help an d point me out to where I need to go to correct my problem.My name is Casey Cantrell.I live in Georgia and I have had a passion to scuba dive my entire life.Just recently a friend and I have decided that this is what we wanted to get into.We have yet to go through any training and I maybe jumping the gun a little but,I was never taught how to swim.Teaching myself I've taught myself while exhaling underwater to do so through my mouth and not through my nose.Now that I have entered your world of scuba diving I'm having problems clearing my mask underwater because everytime I take off my mask and re apply it to my face I can't clear it because for some reason I try but cannot bring myself to exhale out of my nose.The air in my lung just will not come out.Is this all in my head,a bad habit that I've formed in the past 38 years of teaching myself to swim or and I hoping,is this something that other people have experienced but can be ( ... )

Re: I have a problem,can you help me? dawn_felagund June 17 2008, 00:40:55 UTC

Hi, Casey ( ... )

drowning anonymous August 12 2008, 21:01:53 UTC

In Houston we currently have an epidemic in child drownings, with three more child drownings as of early August 2008 than in the entirety of 2007. Our law firm is working with Safe Kids Houston and the Mayor's Office to pursue safety initiatives. To read more on some of the frequent causes of these tragedies, feel free to check out this article on child drowning incidents.